Agriculture: Climate Change – Policies must prioritise water-food-energy triad

https://exam.pscnotes.com/Climate-change”>Climate Change is one of the key challenges Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture is facing, especially in the northwest plains comprising Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The major reasons for higher annual temperatures, coupled with highly irregular and intense rainstorms, are industrialisation, deforestation, increased use of fossil fuels and Population–Growth“>Population Growth. The decreased wheat productivity due to abnormally high February-March temperatures in 2022 and untimely rain in 2023 are the most recent examples of climate chaos in the region. The increasing water scarcity presents its own challenges, including competing demands for use in farming, industrial and domestic sectors. Groundwater is the primary source of Irrigation and drinking water for more than 80% of Punjab’s population. The Impact Of Climate Change on the quantity and quality of groundwater is huge. Irregular rainfall distribution in recent years, with frequent dry spells even in otherwise normal rainfall years, has put additional burden on groundwater in the state. The prolonged dry spells during the monsoon have shown an increasing trend during the past decade, thereby leading to increased extraction of groundwater to meet the irrigation demand.